* Russia consumer fund to launch by year-end
* New fund will be meant for wealth management investors
* Seeing interest in Russia equities from other emerging mkts (Adds details, quotes)
HONG KONG, Sept 16 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas Investment Partners' joint venture in Russia will launch a few equity fund by the end of the year that will focus on Russian consumer stocks, the partnership's chief executive said on Thursday.
The fund will be geared for high net worth and wealth management clients, Vladimir Kirillov, CEO of TKB BNP Paribas Investment Partners, told Reuters.
"We like companies that have exposure to the Russian retail market. Sometimes it's not direct exposure though, like for instance consumer staples," said Kirillov, who helps oversee a $1 billion portfolio of Russian stocks for international investors.
The existing fund of Russian equities has received heavy interest from investors in Latin America, Asia and Europe.
"This year we have practically doubled our fund and there was a good inflow that came from emerging markets," he said.
The new fund will focus more on mid- and small-cap stocks and off-benchmark ideas. It will use the MSCI Russia index as a benchmark. (Reporting by Kevin Plumberg; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)